“Two Broward attorneys were arrested this week for their involvement in a nearly $750,000 fraud scheme to rip off unsuspecting victims of foreclosure surplus checks, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office,” report Brooke Baitinger Eileen Kelley in South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Crime News.

“The attorneys, Rashisa Overby and Ria Sankar-Balram, worked with Illya and Patricia Tinker, a married couple nicknamed ‘tomb raiders’ for another multimillion-dollar scheme in which they stole properties across South Florida, some of which belonged to the dead.”

“The Broward Sheriff’s Office arrested Overby and Sankar-Balram Monday. Balram was released from jail after posting a $57,000 bond. Overby who faces significantly more charges — 29 counts of fraud, money laundering and grand theft among other charges, had bond set at $140,000.”

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“The Ohio Supreme Court today suspended a Lucas County attorney for two years, with six months stayed, for levying false and inflammatory accusations against opposing attorneys, a magistrate, parties in two of his cases, and disciplinary officials hearing the complaints against him,” reports Dan Trevas in Court News Ohio’s Cases.

“In a unanimous per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court suspended Thomas A. Yoder of Holland for violating several of the rules governing the professional conduct of Ohio lawyers. The offenses included calling a magistrate’s decision ‘insane,’ and not what ‘a normal, competent magistrate would have done.'”

“The Toledo Bar Association filed a complaint against Yoder with the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct in 2019 based on allegedly false statements by Yoder and for threatening letters he sent to two witnesses he intended to call during his disciplinary hearings.”

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A $411.7 million verdict was returned for a veteran paralyzed in a 45-vehicle interstate pileup in 2018, reports a staff reporter in Tallahassee Democrat’s News.

“It’s a record verdict in what appears to be the area’s first ever trial conducted by video-conferencing.”

“Duane Washington, a former career Army sergeant and Gadsden County resident, was traveling home on his motorcycle via I-10 near Tallahassee in July 2018” when “He came upon a pileup of more than 45 vehicles, caused by a wreck. ”

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“More than eight years after Bonnie Winslett tore up and threw away a summons that notified her she was being sued, the Georgia Supreme Court is being asked to resolve questions of law that will determine whether GEICO Indemnity Co. must pay approximately $2.7 million of a court’s award against her,” reports Jim Sams in Claims Journal.

“The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday sent three certified questions to the state’s high court. Once answered, the federal appellate court can then rule on an appeal of a district court’s order in a bad faith case that requires GEICO to pay 70% of the nearly $2.9 million in damages awarded by the jury, plus interest.”

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“It has been six months since the initial wave of government mandated ‘stay-at-home’ orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, we have seen at least four important litigation trends emerge,” writes Tiffany Caterina in Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz’ News & Press.

The four trends discussed are:

1. Force Majeure
2. Deceptive Trade Practices
3. Business Interruption
4. Workplace Safety

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“The Arizona lawyer who helped an ex-mobster orchestrate the failure of a nationwide chain of Toby Keith restaurants was sentenced Monday to six months in prison,” reports Robert Anglen in azcentral’s Investigations.
“Gregory McClure also must repay $1.3 million he admitted stealing, as part of his deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors. They are going after his former employer on fraud charges.”

“McClure, during the hour-long court hearing, told Arizona U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow he was ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ by his conduct.”

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“Omitting a small print photo credit can get you in big trouble under the copyright laws,” writes Jim Burger, Justin Mulligan, Mike Nepple, Michael Parks and Mark Sableman in Thompson Coburn’s Insights.

“That’s what happened recently when a court affirmed an award of almost $74,000 against BuzzFeed, because its reporter had copied a photo from the New York Post website and removed the photographer’s name.”

“Gregory Mango, the plaintiff, had authorized the New York Post’s use of his photo, and the Post provided the usual small print photo credit line (known as “gutter credit”) to him. A few months later, a BuzzFeed reporter copied Mango’s photo from the Post website and used it in a BuzzFeed article about the person depicted in the photo. BuzzFeed replaced the photo credit to Mango with the name of the law firm that represented the person depicted.”

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“A mayor’s son and lawyer who has been arrested five times for alcohol-related incidents has been suspended from the Indiana bar for at least one year,” reports the IL Staff in The Indiana Lawyer.

“The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission last year filed a formal complaint against Evan B. Broderick, son of Anderson Democratic Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr., who also is an attorney and former Madison County prosecutor.”

“Broderick in 2018 pleaded guilty to charges of Class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person and Class B misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident after he struck a utility pole following an afternoon of drinking.”

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“A 32-year-old woman suspected since July of running an unlawful law practice in Uptown Dallas has been arrested in Boston, and police are asking anyone who may have been victimized to speak up,” reports Marc Ramirez in The Dallas Morning News’ Crime.

“Massachusetts state police detained Camilia Shene Johnson at Logan International Airport on Sept. 5 as she tried to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey. Johnson, a convicted felon, also goes by the name Camilia Johnson Ibrahim.”

“Authorities had been looking into Johnson’s conduct since mid-July, when a skeptical DeSoto resident alerted police to say that a number of legal actions being proposed to them by the suspect were in fact not the law.”

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“An Illinois lawyer, who reportedly lied and said he had cancer—when he did not—and instead was looking for discovery deadline extensions, is facing potential suspension from the practice of law. He also allegedly lied about having cancer on his University of Chicago Law School application,” reports Stephanie Francis Ward in ABA Journal’s News.

“In 2015, Vincenzo Field reportedly asked an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois for additional discovery time because he would be out of the office for four months.”

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“A Myrtle Beach lawyer is no longer allowed to practice law after entering an Alford plea on charges of indecent exposure, and a history of pleas related to assault and voyeurism,” reports Kaitlyn Luna in WSPA’s News.

“Jacob Parrott was disbarred on Aug. 13 by the state Supreme Court, backdating to June 5, 2018, when he was arrested for indecent exposure after police said he was exposing himself and masturbating by a public pool, according to the court records.”

“After the arrest, Parrott entered an Alford plea. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to gain a conviction.”

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If you’re conducting a deposition or cross-examination there are certain questions you need to ask, writes Dr. Ken Brodo-Bahm in Persuasive Litigator, like:

• Where is the witness?
• Are they right there in the room with you, or are they many miles away in a room with their computer?

“With the pandemic still raging across the U.S., many are social distancing their testimony via Zoom or other web-conferencing platforms. Instead of being in a crowded conference room or courtroom, they are alone in a separate space in front of their laptop.”

There is a shared concern among lawyers that there is “not only the potential for off-camera coaching, but also the possibility for a witness to be surreptitiously looking at documents or notes without the questioner knowing it.”

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“Vero Beach lawyer Louis ‘Buck’ Vocelle, Jr., was arrested Saturday night and charged with DUI, property damage and personal injury,” reports Catie Wegman in TCPalm.’s News.

Vocelle, 64, was arrested near Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital. He posted a $1,000 bond and was released Sunday, with a court date set for September 22.

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“Retired United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams was charged Thursday with conspiracy to embezzle union funds following a years-long investigation into racketeering, bribery and other crimes that has pushed one of the nation’s most powerful unions to the brink of a federal takeover,” report Robert Snell, Jordyn Grzelewski and Breana Noble in The Detroit News’ Autos.

“Williams, 67, of Corona, Calif., is the second UAW president charged during an investigation by agents from the FBI, Labor Department and Internal Revenue Service during a probe that has led to 14 convictions. It has revealed labor leaders and auto executives broke federal labor laws, stole union funds and received bribes and illegal benefits from union contractors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV executives.”

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“Former Crestline police chief Joe Butler has been awarded a $380,000 settlement in a lawsuit he filed against the village,” reports Lou Whitmire in Mansfield News Journal.

“In the suit, Butler sought $1.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages, alleging the actions of the defendants were a direct effort to retaliate against him for his effort to expose then-mayor Allen Moore’s racially discriminatory remarks. The suit claimed they did so by attacking Butler’s public reputation, interfering with his public duties and ultimately depriving him of his position and his career in law enforcement.”

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“Updated: A federal judge in Seattle has tossed a lawyer’s $1.5 million defamation lawsuit against Avvo for allegedly posting false information that made him look ‘terrible,'” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Daily News.

“U.S. District Judge James L. Robart of the Western District of Washington dismissed lawyer Andrew U.D. Straw’s claims for defamation, tortious interference with contractual relations, intentional infliction of emotional distress and disability discrimination.”

“Straw took issue with two Avvo statements. The first was his then-Avvo rating of 3.1 out of 10. The second was an allegedly false description of Straw’s Virginia bar status as ‘not active but disabled.'”

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“An overbilling lawsuit filed against K&L Gates on Monday alleges the law firm used multiple techniques to increase its fees fraudulently while representing a company in a suit over a failed lease agreement,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s  News.

“The Aug. 24 suit, filed in the District of Utah’s Central Division, says K&L Gates billed $1.6 million in legal fees between May 2016 and October 2016, even though it was not hired to be the primary law firm in the representation.”

“The suit was filed by Chicora Life Center and its owner, Chicora Garden Holdings. Chicora Life Center’s manager is lawyer and developer Douglas Durbano, who announced a congressional run in January but failed to get on the primary ballot, the Deseret News reported in May.”

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“A tax consultant should not have been found liable for misappropriating trade secrets after he used his ex-employer’s allegedly proprietary ‘tax arbitrage’ strategy in providing services to its former clients, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled,” reports Eric T. Berkman in New England In-House.

“The Puerto Rico-based plaintiff, TLS Management and Marketing Services, helped mainland U.S. clients profit by availing themselves of Puerto Rico’s lower tax rates through a series of complex transactions between TLS and the client.”

“After defendant Ricky Rodriguez, a TLS executive, left the company, TLS accused him of misappropriating trade secrets by utilizing the company’s strategy (which TLS referred to as its “U.S. Possession Strategy” or “the Strategy”) to provide tax services to former TLS clients using TLS documents with which the clients provided him. The company also accused him of misappropriating trade secrets by downloading the company’s Capital Preservation Report — or CPR — documents to analyze client tax situations.”

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“A lawyer representing Jennifer Dulos’ family has filed a federal complaint seeking to require the state Judicial Branch to foreclose on Fotis Dulos’ former Farmington residence even though housing proceedings have been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic,” reports Lisa Backus in Stamford Advocate’s Local News.

“Attorney Richard Weinstein, representing Gloria Farber and the estate of her late husband, Hilliard, wants the proceedings to move forward on the 14,000-square-foot home that was already in foreclosure when Fotis Dulos died Jan. 30 from an apparent suicide.”

“In March, Gov. Ned Lamont issued an executive order, putting a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions as the pandemic spread throughout Connecticut. Weinstein filed the complaint against Judge Patrick Carroll, chief court administrator for the state Judicial Branch, out of ‘sheer frustration,’ the attorney said. ‘Judges are precluded from entering into foreclosures and evictions even in non-COVID-related cases,Weinstein said. ‘My client is paying all this money every month and nothing is happening. I did not want to sue the judge, but every day that goes by, it costs the estate money.'”

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“Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (‘HSI’), announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Pablo Renato Rodriguez, Gutemberg Dos Santos, Scott Hughes, Cecilia Millan, and Jackie Aguilar for their roles in an internationally coordinated fraud and money laundering ring involved in defrauding individuals through investments in AirBit Club, a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company,” states the press release on the United States Department of Justice site.

“Acting United States Attorney Audrey Strauss said: ‘As alleged, the defendants put a modern-day spin on an age-old investment scam, promising extraordinary rates of guaranteed return on phantom investments in cryptocurrencies. Thanks to HSI, the defendants are in custody and facing serious criminal charges.'”

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